Mika Brzezinski speaks on stage during the Women In The World Summit held in New York on April 24, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images)

The President of the United States on Thursday morning launched an unhinged and vulgar attack on two MSNBC hosts, focusing the majority of his wrath on a female broadcaster. Donald Trump took to Twitter, his preferred medium, and lashed out at Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, the hosts of Morning Joe, in a pair of withering tweets. “I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don’t watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year’s Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!” the president said in the tandem of tweets.

Even for President Trump, who as a candidate once said that then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her where ever,” which many took to mean as a suggestion that she was menstruating, the comment was shockingly sexist not to mention downright mean. (He’s used the misogynistic technique of labeling a woman “crazy” with Megyn Kelly in the past on Twitter as well.)

In a statement, NBC News blasted Trump for the remarks. “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job,” the statement read, according to Politico.

The attack also raised the question of how first lady Melania Trump would respond, given that just days before the election in November she gave a speech denouncing cyber-bullying and vowed to make combating online bullying one of her top priorities as first lady. Her office issued a statement on Thursday morning, saying, “As the First Lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.”

.@StephGrisham45: "As the First Lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder."

The tweets were posted around the time Morning Joe is on the air, and, according to Business Insider, came in response to Brzezinki, who is also Scarborough’s fiance, mocking Trump for posting a fake Time magazine cover with his face on it in various golf clubs that he owns. “Nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself lying every day and destroying the country,” Brzezinski said.

The tweets came on a busy morning in Washington, when Republicans are scrambling to come up with a health care bill the party can agree on and Trump’s travel ban goes into effect after being partially and temporarily upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this week. They also came a day after the president interrupted his official duties in order to comment on a female reporter’s appearance, an exchange that drew widespread criticism. Not surprisingly, criticism for his remarks came from all directions, including from members of his own party. Senators Lindsey Graham and Ben Sasse excoriated the president in posts on Twitter, saying that his behavior is beneath the office he holds. NBC News spokesperson Mark Kornblau struck a similar note.

Mr. President, your tweet was beneath the office and represents what is wrong with American politics, not the greatness of America.

Author and Twitter aficionado J.K. Rowling responded also by posting a famous quote by Abraham Lincoln that reads, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

'Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.' Abraham Lincoln pic.twitter.com/vkJnlXbnXg